We hope you are making plans to attend the upcoming 2017 Annual National Institute at Opryland Resort in Nashville, October. 18-20.   To help get you in the mood, here’s some local trivia you may find interesting.

• Among early Nashville settlers was Rachel Donelson who would become the wife of President Andrew Jackson who lived in Nashville.Their home, The Hermitage, has a driveway that happens to be in the shape of a guitar.Perhaps this was foreshadowing the city’s future.
• While in Nashville, if you have a sweet tooth be sure to try a GooGoo cluster.This is a native Nashville confection created in 1901 by The Standard Candy Company. They use more than 3 million pounds of chocolate a year to make this decadent candy cluster of peanuts, caramel, marshmallow and milk chocolate. It is said that GOO stands for Grand Ole Opry.
• Have you ever used the expression, “Good to the last drop”?It’s believed that the expression was first uttered by President Franklin Roosevelt after sipping coffee at the Maxwell House Hotel. His words became the slogan for the Maxwell House coffee brand, a coffee created locally by the Cheek family, whose home is now Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art.
• Have you heard of hot chicken? This is a Nashville culinary contribution that has been featured on many TV cooking and travel shows.Prince’s Hot Chicken, the first and perhaps most well-known hot chicken restaurant, began when Thornton Prince’s girlfriend suspected him of cheating on her so she put extra pepper in his fried chicken. Thornton liked it so much that he opened the BBQ Chicken Shack in the mid-1930s which would later become Prince’s Hot Chicken.

• You never know who you may see while you are in Nashville.Nashville is home to country and non-country artists including:  Jack White, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, Ben Folds, Kings of Leon, Taylor Swift, Kesha, Martina McBride, Paramore, Alison Krauss, Michael McDonald, Matt Wertz, Joy Williams, Sheryl Crow, Young Buck, Michael W. Smith, and many others.
• Do you love the music of “The King”?  Elvis Presley recorded more than 200 of his songs at RCA's historic Studio B on Music Row. Red, green and blue lights are still in the studio. They were installed when Elvis was recording one of his Christmas albums. In order for it to be released in time for the holiday season, it was recorded in July. To create a festive atmosphere, the crew decided to string lights; put up a Christmas tree and turn the air conditioning down as cold as it would go. To this day, the lights remain to commemorate their ingenuity and dedication.
• Roy Orbison wrote the iconic hit “OH Pretty Woman” in 1964 from atop his Eighth Avenue and Wedgewood apartment after he looked out his window and saw a pretty woman walking by.
• How did Nashville become known as “Music City”?  WSM radio announcer David Cobb referred to Nashville with that nickname in 1950 on Red Foley’s NBC radio broadcast.
• Did you ever watch the Grand Ole Opry with Minnie Pearl?The amount on the price tag on Minnie Pearl’s iconic hat was $1.98. The Centerville native and Grand Ole Opry star would eventually buy a grand home next door to the Governor’s Mansion on Curtiswood Lane in Nashville.
• United Record Pressing, a vinyl pressing plant, is one of only four remaining vinyl manufacturers in the nation. Operating since 1949, United has pressed millions of records for artists like Elvis Presley, Lionel Richie, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and N’Sync, as well as for numerous hip-hop and reggae musicians.
• Wonder where TV scores area created?Nashville, of course!Located on Music Row, recording studio Warner/Chappell Production Music is internationally renowned for its musical talent in radio, television, and advertising. They create custom scores for television shows like the Today show, ABC Sports, HGTV, Animal Planet, and more.
• Live music can be seen and heard every day and night of the week in Nashville. The world-famous honky tonks, located on Broadway, offer free live music 365 days a year. And with more than 150 music venues around town ranging from large arenas and concert halls to small clubs, featuring nearly every genre of music, it’s easy to see why this is the city that “music calls home.”

We hope you enjoy the ANI this year!